1. Just started reading Borges' "Collected Fictions" over the weekend; I'm already totally hooked. This is the first time I've ever read Borges, so I can't vouch for this particular translation as it compares to others, but regardless - I'm loving it.

2. Pretty good therapy session today, although as usual we didn't get to the real nitty gritty until right at the very end. Lots of interesting stuff to think about. I may make a private blog entry on what exactly that stuff entails, because, after all, that's sorta what blogs are for.

3. At some point over the weekend it occured to me that with one or two exceptions, I've put absolutely none of my classical music CDs onto my iPod. That all changed rather dramatically yesterday afternoon - now I've got lots and lots of Copland (esp. Symphony #3), Glenn Gould playing Bach Preludes and Fugues, Mahler 1 and 2 and Stravinsky (all Bernstein/NYPhil), and some Prokofiev and Debussy. I think I need to acquire some Rachmaninoff piano concerti, and some Shotchtakovich (I know I'm mangling the spelling) - I have fond memories of being a little kid, driving in the car with my dad and listening to certain S'kovich pieces, although I can't remember if they were symphonies (5, maybe?) or something else.

That's all for now. If the afternoon slows down a bit I'll get back into it.

I plowed through the Borges collection a few years ago -- it actually directly inspired a Shark & Bear tune, "Tigers in the Library." I love that Borges would, for example, instead of writing a novel, review the unwritten novel instead. Such a brilliant writer.

Thank you Jer....I love you even though you haven't a clue how to spell Shostakovich although he would probably have spelled our name "Foss". Besides...he's dead, so who cares! But if you want some suggestions about repertoire, I'll offer his Symphony #5, which I was priveleged to perform under the direction of his son Maxim and whose recording I'd recommend if you can find it. What's mesmerizing here is the scherzo which sounds like a charming waltz if interpreted that way, but which Maxim said was "Bitter..like nails!!". The genius is that Shostakovich could write music that had such convincingly, but diametrically opposing meanings. The Bernstein recording is fine, but he misinterpreted the tempo of the last movement which is quite a bit slower and far more powerful thereby. I'd also recommend the piano trio which I adore. The last movement transforms a Jewish theme through a tortured development into a transfigured climax that is a profoundly eloquent holocaust statement. Similarly, the 'Leningrad Symphony' is a WWII tonal journey through anguish and redemption. These all are very moving, powerful, and emotive expressions. Then there's the 1st cello concerto with Eb clarinet screams from the Gulag in the last movement....but that's another story altogether. It wouldn't hurt to have some vodka in the freezer for any of the above!!